A New York state Assemblywoman Thursday will honor a farmer in her district for his efforts on behalf of the agriculture community.
Chris Pawelski is a fourth-generation onion farmer, and owns Pawelski Farms in Orange County’s Black Dirt region.
Republican Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt of Greenwood Lake has a resolution commending Pawelski for his work over much the last 16 years to improve the agricultural lives of his fellow farmers though raising awareness about farming issues with state and federal officials as well as the media. As she bestows the honor in person Thursday at the Quaker Creek Store on Pulaski Highway in Goshen, two minutes down the road from Pawelski’s farm, she and Pawelski will highlight the needs of the Black Dirt agricultural community. Pawelski mentions one issue.
He also draws attention to what he calls too little farm assistance post Hurricane Irene in 2011.
Farms in the Black Dirt region were devastated after Irene, and he says there were too few cries on farmers’ behalf post-Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee compared with Superstorm Sandy.
In fact, Pawelski formed his own cry for assistance after Hurricane Irene by posting a bag of onions on eBay.
What did happen recently, and is not a stunt, is Pawelski’s latest endeavor – a book. “Muckville: Farm Policy, Media and the Strange Oddities of Semi-Rural Life” is billed as an inside look at a farmer's fight to influence agriculture policy in Washington, D.C.
